An underground fiber line that a Dulles-based company is installing between Richmond and Northern Virginia was hailed on Thursday as a significant economic development opportunity for Stafford County and the remainder of the Fredericksburg region.
SummitIG is in the process of connecting Ashburn, where many data centers are located, and the Richmond area with “dark fiber” that customers can lease for a secure, fast and affordable way to send and receive data. The lines are being laid along Interstate 95 and are expected to be completed this summer.
Some of the current fiber infrastructure in the region is dated or oversubscribed, according to a SummitIG press release, reducing connectivity speeds and limiting the volume on existing networks. The company says the new lines will provide “virtually unlimited connectivity.”
One beneficiary could be the Quantico Corporate Center along I-95 in North Stafford, where an event was held Thursday afternoon to announce the new fiber opportunities. SummitIG plans to build a regeneration facility at the QCC on land it purchased from project developer the Silver Cos., and office tenants at the QCC will be able to access the broadband lines.
U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, speaking by phone to the Thursday gathering, hailed the announcement as a “great day for the commonwealth and Virginia” and said the new line “puts our region at a competitive advantage.”
As more business moves to the “cloud,” having a reliable and fast way to send data has become critically important for firms. The military also needs to have access to secure lines through which it can send and receive sensitive information.
“The threat is real,” U.S. Marine Corps Col. David Wells said at Thursday’s event, which was held less than a mile from the Quantico Marine Corps Base. “The bad guys are out there.”
Michele Weslander-Quaid, Google’s chief technology officer (public sector) was the keynote speaker at Thursday’s event. She called the Quantico Corporate Center — where Stafford last year purchased land for the Stafford Technology and Research Center — a “role model of public-private partnership.”
By: Bill Freehling, Free Lance Star
